"It was like a guinea pig day," said contest coordinator Caron Farnham. "Conditions were ugly, but we at least got a feel for how the waves would be ridden and how the judges would score an event like this."

Surf was in the 20- to 25-foot range, with some wave-faces around 40 feet. But sideshore winds and heavy rain turned the ocean into a stormy mess.

"Definitely good to call it off," said veteran big-wave rider Tony Moniz. "It was a good challenge, but not the best day for a contest."

There were still some highlights, including Moniz getting high scores for catching one of the longest waves of the day.

In tow-in surfing, surfers are pulled into massive waves by hanging on to a rope attached to a personal watercraft. Once on the wave, the surfer lets go of the rope and surfs. Most teams alternate positions between surfing and operating the watercraft.

Twelve teams showed up for yesterday's two-hour session.

The sibling team of Malia and Cully Kamisugi received high scores after Malia rode one of the biggest waves of the day. She is the only female in the contest.

"It was pretty big, but it looked do-able," Malia said. "I looked for (Cully) to give me the thumbs up to go and he did. He knows when I should and shouldn't go, so I depend a lot on him."

Cully towed Malia into the wave and then watched the ride from his watercraft.

"She's actually rode bigger waves before," he said. "This one was a good 20 feet, but what made it hard was the bumps."

However, all the rides from yesterday will be wiped out.

The contest has a holding period until the end of March. If massive waves reach O'ahu's North Shore before then, the contest will run again from the start.

Farnham added that "safety is number one priority" with the event. Every competitor had to be certified through ocean safety classes before registering for the event.

"You can never say it's totally safe because you're putting your life in danger every time you go out in waves that big," said competitor Billy Balding. "But everybody out there knows what they're doing."

But just to be sure, the Kamisugis called their parents after their heat yesterday.

"They let us do it, but they give us stink-eye every time," Cully said. "But this is fun for us, and we always make sure to tell them we're OK."